Flask-filling machine for use in foundries



R. J. BARNES FLASH FILLING MACHINE Fon USE IN FoUNDRIEs July 16,1929.

Filed Sept. 1l, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l RNV.

July 16, 1929. R. J. BARNES FLASK 'FILLING MACHINE FOR USE IN FOUNDRIESFiled Sept. ll, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet4 2 Patented July 16, 1929.

* JUN- 1Tw STA-TES;

'ROBERT a. BARNES, or PHILAnE'LiHIA, ENNs'-Iivnnn. r` 1 FLASH-FauneMACHINE Fon fU'sn 'mountains Application Yarea september rIhe objectvofthis invention is to provide improvements generally/inthe method andapparatus employed in the manufacture ofY castings, such Afor instanceas cast-iron 5 soil jpipe, though the invention because of its Wideadaptability 4is by no means limited to this particular line of foundrywork.`

Anotherobject is to provide means for handling the usual flasks much;more e1;-

peditiously 'than is usually possible, said flasks being ymounted upon.aI specially constructed traveller above which is properly arranged,the discharge end of a inoulderssand chute, which leads from a hopperor magazine 'intowhich it is carried'by a suitableconveyor. A ,A

further-Objectis Ytovprovide av traveller havingl "preferablyreeiprocatory; motion and capable of carryinggtwo, or more, flasks, one'offwhich lafter havingbeen 'filled with sandfbe'nea'th the chuteand-removed from thereunder can be replaced by a third or by emptyilask,gwhile the second flask lpilrt'he itraveller isbeneath thesaidchute midis-,receiving its supply of sand, followinglwhich stage in theoperation of the de- Vice, ithetraveller rmoves into another positionand 'the second filled fiask can be re-v placyed'while the vthird flaskis being filled. Still' anotherl object is to provide, in conjunctionwith the foregoing ldetails of cons'tructiomfmeans -to regulatethelquantity or height rof sand in a flask after it has beenfilledwfrointhe chute, means -to compress tlie`loose sand as received'from saidchute fto ypredetermined density, and means to l,return the surplus Iorspilledsand to the conveyor,- which -then ,carries it 1again to thehopper orfmagazine. y Anda 'tillffurther object is to provide iumerouszdetails of construct-ions Whichcon- Atribute tovv'ards the generalincrease veliiiency,mad e possible Withfthe use ofc-this deviceovenknown apparatus employed'for the -same pur-pose, the present,invention `iiakir'lg'. 'possible the more lrapid filling ,and

tampingl ofa greater number` of yflasks by fewer operatives thanarevwhere'tofore refllledn. y

'With'fhese and otherobjects', in' Viewi, the presentinvention comprisesIadditional )novel ,details ofconstruction and operation llere- -nffterfully brought,y out in the'following description, when readleoirjinactionwith the Vaccon'ap'an'ying ldrawinirs, in which Fig.

'in e fram @iev-ressa new jef ion@ Vreim 11, 1925. vSerial *No l55,782.

of the invention; ,.Fig. 2 is an end-View ofi g the same, partly insection; Fig. 3 is -a top plan .view ofvthe traveller tracks andassociated elen'ientsg'F-ig. .lisis a side elevation of the same; F ig.5 is side -elevationfof the traveller per se;.and Fig. Gis-an enlargedend elevation ofthe track, traveller, scraper and tamping roller.,

Referring to the drawings, the Afloor lof av foundry is shown and:provided with -a pit. Q, lined 1in -any suitable manner at 3, I

and having its upper and otherwise open portion covered by asuitablegrating 4. Secured yin any suitable'man'ner to the upperperiphery of the :Walls .fof the llining material is a. hopper,comprising oppositely po.`sitio`ned,v downwardly `lconverging 'frontand: rear walls A5, 'whichfiat'thei'r lower portions -are ijoinedfby asegmental 'section l'6, the laterally dpposite'sides of :said'lhopperbeing` inclosed 4by 'downwardly 'converging side w'a-lls 7, whileeachfof the iva'lls 'fand 7- adi acent to its lower 'portion ymergesinto `a vertically extending 4set vof elements '8, iwhih co-operate `toforma support 'for Ithe lower central portion of -the .hopper iabove'the floor 'of the pit 2.1 1' i ,f

Extending upwardly from the central lportion o'f the hopper and throughthe grating 4 isa 'casing formed between Lforwardand rear walls Sandop'po'sitely ipo@ sitioned side vWalls '10,:thelowerportionifof cach ofthe Walls 9 and 10 being partially out away to:provideaperturesllyfori'permitting sand which.E enters the iho'pper 'pn the walls -5 and7 to igravitlate 'towardfand e'nter'the-lowermo'st portion 6 'of thehop'- per ata lpredetermined maximum rate fof loxv,1tlre effective areas4of said apertures beingi controlled by means of vertically f'adjustable-gates l5. l Y

AvPositioned 'Within the and `lower portions 'of the `vertically extend#ing casing 16,-"surround'ed'bythe AWlalls 9 and H10, are shafts 17,'upon Whichf are l"respective upper mounted suitable -wheels or (pulleys18,

over Iwhich 4*passes 'a continuous-flexible belt 19,--provided withspaced buckets or the vllike 20- each 'ofwhich-buckets extends trans--versely the ent-ire. width of the belt. rThe .upper {port-ion 'of saidcasing :is provided with a forwardly extending-offset 21,?both Acasin.and offset having theirintei'iors inclosed by-Vmeans of a suitable/cover22, while the odset itself open at its Yldwer .pali-.isa aaa was im@ a.diagauy as tending. chute -'23,"having -pivvotally` mounted at its lowerend 24 an angularly oscillatable nozzle 25, which is of relativelyshallow cross-section from front --to rear, but which in the preferredforni of the device eX- tends the full width ofr the casing 16 and t-hebelt 19 inclosed therein, said nozzle being capable of being 4movedmanually for wardly and rearwardly upon the pivots 24, as shown by' thefdot-and-dash lines of Fig. 2. A Y" Mounted upon the'loor lofthe foundryand uponv laterally opposite sides of the pit 2 is a run-Way or track,comprising a pair of parallel I-beams or other suitable support-s 26 fora corresponding number of rails 2T secured upon said beams, and uponwhich run the preferably grooycd pul leys 28, which are rotatablymounted between pairs ofoppositelypositioned channel-irons 29, connectedat their upper end by a plat-'form 30 which` t-hey support, and thusform a truck or ftraveller, which is adapted to move to and fro upon therails 27.

The said truck may' be provided with any desired mumbe'rof. pairs ofthese v grooved wheels, and as a unit appears substantially as shown inFig.: 5, the pairs of channel-irons being separated from f each. other,and the channel-ironsof each pair beingalsol spaced apart by means ofsuitable tie-rods and spacers 31. To the under;

side of the platform 301is secured one or more brackets 32, aelanipingfmeans 33 being carried by each bracket for securing the latterdirectly to a .cable f 34, which passes over a pair of groovedpulleys 35mounted uponfshat'ts 36, whichin `turn-are journalled in suitableibearingsf?, Whichare mounted upon theadjacentsides of the I-beams orthe like 26. 1 i

One of the shafts 36 extends forwardly at 38, and is 'provided with apulley 39, which is driven in any'isuitable manner as for instance by abelt 40 from any suitable source of power=4l,` -as'for instance anelectric motor, an internal combustion engine, or the like. The cable 34is provided With a turnbuckle 42 or other suitable meansfor taking upany slack which may develop 'after a' prolonged period of use, and forcausing the cable to run-in one direction and then reverse and run apredetermined distance in the opposite direction. To cause the traveller29-30 to have a-reciprocating movement, there 'is vprovided anysuit-able system of electric or other control from the sourcev of power,for causing saidl power source to interrupt a too directional movementto said-cable.

Positioned upon'theopposite sides of the track-or run-way vfrom thetrave-ller 29-30 and upon each of the laterally opposite sides ofthechute-nozzles 25, is a pair of vertically ,extending posts 43, suitablybraced at44 and lprovided at itsupper end with an adjustable mechanism45 and compression-spring 46, operating upon a journalbearing slidablevertically in a cut-out portio1r47` in each Vof saidposts, each et saidshafts journalled in said bearings provided Witlra roller 48'for .apurpose hereinafter described. Also carried by the upper portion of theposts vof each pair are laterally extending bracket members 49, betweenwhich extend diagonally positioned sci-apen bars 50, which bymeans otbolts or any other suitable means are vertically adjustableifor apurpose also hereinafter described.

Assuming that the traveller 29-30 is in the position Shown in Fig. 1, aliask 51, which was placedupon said traveller when in the dot-and-dashposition 52, is' illustrated as being beneath the discharge end ot thenoz' zle 25, where it receives sand from the hopper 23 by an 'attendantmanually oscillating said nozzle forwardly and rearwardly. An emptyflask 52 4is placed thenupon the laterally extending otherwise free endportion of the travellerasnlso shown in Fig. 1. The power'source41'is'then setinto operation so asfto,l move 'the traveller inthedot-anddaisli position, which'remove's theitlasky 51 from beneath thenozzle and at the same time moves the 'flask 52 into'operative positionbetween 'Said nozzles. While beneath said nozzle,'i,the laskllis filledwithas much, or

moregvmoulders sand than is required, even though the Iflow ofthe sandmay be regulated if desired by any suitablemeans, such for instance' asa damper or'the like 53, f `Thereupon, as the flask51 moves into theposition"52,it passes beneath the vertically adjustable sc'rap'er'Q,which permits only a predeterminedpquantity of sand to remain abovetheside 'Wallsof the flask, the excess sand being removed -to thesideand falling through the grating 4pa'sses into the hopper 5-.-7, while.the remaining sand upon the flask'is firmly 'pressed or tamped by'andas lit' passesb'eneath the 'right-hand roller 48 (as viewed in Fig. 1),.Similarly, after the flask'52 has been filled, its sand surplus will beregulated by the left-hand scraper 50 and adjacent roller 48. ,Thus thetraveller passes to and fro, .and with a minimum of lost4 motionoccupies only the attentionof a man operating the nozzle 25 andower'source 41, and t'our helpers p'o` sitione respectively upontheflaterally op'- p'osite sides of each of the end portions of therun-way, one man of each pair removing a 'filledfiaskg and `the otherofthe same pair placing upon the' said trave-ller an empty flask, whichcooperate to makethe operation substantially. continuous.

Having thus described my invention, what I :claim and desire'to protectbyLetters Patent ofthe United States is :4-

1. A flask-filling mechanism, comprising t-he combination of a travellerhaving a pair of flask supporting port-ions, `means to oscillate saidtraveller to and fro, a sand hopper, a chute operative to convey sandalternately towards the flask positions of' said traveller, means toConvey sand from said hopper to said chute, a transversely oscillatorynozzle forming an extension of said chute and operative to spread sandsubstantially evenly in` flasks upon` said traveller, as said supportingportions move into position adjatwnt to said nozzle, adjustable meansoperative to smooth the sand in a flask and predetermine the density ofthe resulting` mold, and means to compress the smoothed sand. as saidtraveller moves a. flask from its filling' position towards a positionfree from said chute.

2. A flask-lilling mechanism, comprising the combination of' atraveller' having; a pair of flask supporting portions, means tooseillate said traveller' to and fro, a sand hopper, a chute operativeto convey sand alternately towards the flask positions of saidtraveller, means to convey sand from said hopper to said chute, atransversely oscillatory nozzle forming an extension of said chute andoperative to spread sand substantially evenly in flasks upon saidtraveller, as said supporting' portions move into position adjacent tosaid nozzle, and relatively stationary, vertically adjustable meansoperative to smooth the sand in a flask and to predetermine the densityof the resulting` mold and vertically yielding' rotary means to compressthe smoothed sand, as said traveller moves a fiask from its filling'position towards a position free from said chute.

A flask-.fillingv mechanism, comprising the con'ibination of a.traveller adapted to support a flask, means to supply sand to a flaskupon said traveller when in one posi tion, adjustable means to removefrom said flask all over a lin'edetermined quantity of sand from saidflask as said traveller moves from said first position to ]nedeterminethe density of the resulting' mold, and means to Compress the sand insaid flask.

In testimony whereof` I have affixed my signature.

HUBERT J. BARNES.

